TEACHING THE PHILOSOPHY OF SUCCESS

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the curriculum, here is another subject that needs to be
taught in our schools and colleges. The recent dominant trend has been "back to basics," putting more
emphasis on English, mathematics, and the sciences, while reducing the number of trendy electives. |
believe, however, that we need to add a strong and coordinated effort to teach about the philosophy of
success.

What is the philosophy of success? Television news programs have carried stories about visits by the
Reverend Jesse Jackson to schools, many of them inner city schools. In these emotional speeches, one of
the central features is when Jackson urges the students to repeat after him, "l-am, some-body." The
students join in, and repeat the words, and then repeat them louder. Jesse Jackson is teaching about the
philosophy of success. A philosophy of success is a system of concepts about personal achievement; it
attempts to understand and explain how success works, and what one needs to do to be successful. There
is, of course, no single philosophy of success. Different writers, philosophers, and achievers have varying
views on the subject. However, there are considerable common threads in their thinking.

A philosophy of success is usually founded on the idea that we become what we think about, and
includes attention to the effects of positive mental attitude, the importance of goal setting, the role of
perseverance, and faith in a Greater Power. Many of these concepts are not new to the curriculum of
colleges. For example, psychology courses teach that people tend to fulfill their self-concept, and
management courses teach about the self-fulfilling prophecy. However, these ideas are not taught in the
context of an integrated philosophy of success, and more importantly, they are presented as theories, and
not personalized with application to the daily life of the student.

How would schools and colleges teach about the philosophy of success? The philosophy could be taught
on two levels. First, we can have courses dealing directly with the subject. There is a considerable body of
literature that can be read, analyzed, absorbed, and discussed. In such classes, students would have
assignments that not only insure that they understand the concepts, but also would provide exercises and
assignments to help incorporate the lessons into students’ lives. Such classes can be conducted, with
appropriate content, at all levels from elementary school through graduate school. As with most subjects,
students can have a different and deeper level of understanding as their age and maturity grow.

Second, the more difficult but more powerful teaching medium is for the philosophy to be woven through
all of the subjects taught at the school or college. Students must find evidence of a philosophy of success in
their teachers and administrators; they must see it working and learn it from role models. In the teaching of
writing, we have learned that we cannot teach writing effectively if it is only taught in English class. Other
teachers must include writing assignments and must stress the importance of sound principles of grammar,
coherence, and logic in their classes as well.

If we really want to stress the basics in the curriculum, we will point ourselves toward teaching the
philosophy of success. It is more basic than English, mathematics, and science; because if we do not help
students to learn the attitudes and skills that will enable them to succeed, they will not be able to achieve in
English, mathematics, and science. Once students have learned the facts and the reasoning skills to succeed
in the basic subjects, their sense of confidence and direction will propel them toward the ultimate goal of
education, to help them make a difference in the world.

James D. Tschechtelin, Executive Director
State Board for Community Colleges

Reprinted with permission, Maryland State Board for Community Colleges Bulletin, February, 1986, p. 2.

For further information, contact the author at the State Board for Community Colleges, The Jeffrey Building,
16 Francis Street, Annapolis, MD 21401, 301/269-2881.

 

‘ Suanne D. Roueche, Editor
October 31, 1986, Vol. Vill, No. 25

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’ The University of Texas at Austin, 1986
Further duplication Is permitted only by MEMBER Institutions for their own personnel. ISSN 0199-106X